What brand of shoes do you gravitate toward when you *need* a pair?

Oct 9, 2012 3:41 AM

I don't mean casual shopping, but the "I-need-a-pair-now" kind of shoes. Is it whatever Payless/(insert store name here) has on sale? Or do you find a good deal on Nike/New Balance/Adidas/etc. somewhere else? When it's crunch time, what brand of shoes will you buy?

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I've fallen in love with Nike Alvord 9 trail running shoes, but it's harder to find them now. I did however buy the Alvord 10 recently, and they are just as comfy. Mind you, I don't run, but they have good traction, so I love them for that!

New Balance from Famous Footwear. Decent enough shoes (I only do light walking and a little running). Great prices, great return policies.

I never need a pair, so to speak. I have only 2 or 3 shoe "models" that I purchase and I wait for them to go on sale and stock up. I bought 5 pairs of one shoe at one time and just kept the spares in the closet until my original pair wore/broke down.

Every Sketchers I've ever owned fell apart within 6 months or so. I've had very mixed experiences with Nike. I always go to New Balance and Reebok if I want a decent shoe. Adidas has been pretty good to me too.

My current pair are Montrail hiking boots, purchased on closeout online for about 50% off 2 years ago. I wear a 10.5 and they took about 2 months of casual wear to totally break them in, but WOW are they comfy now. No hammer toe coming downhill.
Other brands I like: Columbia, Merrell, Timberland, Keen (for various reasons)

BTW I live in the Northern Rockies (Glacier NP area), so hikers are the rule (or water shoes for kayaking & rafting). My dress shoes are only taken out for special events.

New Balance Trail Runners for every day tennies.
Keen for hikers and water shoes.
Keds or Propet mules for under-the-desk shoes (Ihate wearing shoes and frequently take them off at work).
Nike flip flops for truck and travel shoes.

For walking shoes I like Asics gels. I get the boys' shoes because they are cheaper and wider than women's shoes. For work shoes for the winter I go to the Thanksgiving sale at KMart and buy leather Thom McCann heels and flats at half price every year. During the summer I buy sandals whenever and wherever I find ones I like at a good price.

I like Vans. My current pair has lasted me right around two years of basically daily use, and I'd say I still have a good couple of months in them.

I tend to be sort of picky with shoes though (I have very strange feet), so it ends up being a balance of price, brand, comfort, and style. Not going to pay too much for a pair of shoes, and certain brands I have to avoid because their cut just doesn't fit my feet. In my experience, stores like Payless overwhelmingly have shoes I wouldn't wear (not the biggest fan of ridiculously large neon sneakers).

I guess I can't really afford to let myself hit crunch time when it comes to shoes haha. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

I've bought the same Nike trail running shoe from the Nordstrom Rack for the past 5+ years for my everyday shoes. They change colors every year, although buying from the Rack they are last years version, but they fit perfect every time, I don't bother looking at any other shoes. In fact it's been a couple of years and it's getting to be time to replace the current pair.

For work/casual, it was Sketchers, but quality has been going downhill. What was nice was that I new how my size fit, and I could feel pretty confident buying them online. Now, I need to go to the store, see what they have, try to guess at quality, etc. I just have a growing list of makers whose products I have been dissatisfied with (reminds me of the elections). In a crunch, would probably buy, just because I know how they will fit.

Sneakers - whatever brand name is on sale.

Running shoes - Asics GT-2170. Actually got fitted at a running store, and these are what the doctor ordered for my particular issues. So I stick with 'em, adding 10 per year (I think they were 2150's when I started).

New Balance for work, Crocs and Sketchers for home. I spend the majority of the day on my feet, so I don't care how ugly they are, as long as they feel good. I used to wear Sketchers almost exclusively, but like others have said, the quality has become poor. The pull on fashion styles are okay, but the sneakers and boots--awful.

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